A Truly Wonderful Summer, and a Truly Grateful Intern!

By Clare O’Connor, 2017 Tom Desilets Memorial Intern
August 9, 2017

As my time at the Framingham History Center dwindles down to only a few days, my thoughts pertaining to this summer are marked by self-growth and learning a lot about what I like to do, what I can do, and what I want to do. It seems cliche (well, is it cliche) to start my goodbye blog post with a bit of a flashback, but I will just imagine it as a classic story-telling device. When I first got the email from Laura (FHC Museum Assistant/Education Coordinator) that I had been accepted as the 2017 Tom Desilets Memorial Intern, I re-read it maybe three times and could barely contain my excitement.  I couldn’t wait for it to start and was imagining the work I would be doing. Since I had decided that my career was going to be involved with history, I had not had a job that supported this or offered any chance at getting my feet wet in the field.  I didn’t know exactly what I was in for, but I knew that no matter what the opportunity to get involved with my chosen career path was going to be exceptional.

(left to right) Katie, Jennifer, Clare, Stacen, and Laura

Despite my excitement, I was apprehensive.  I had started to think that I did not want to be a high school history teacher anymore, and wanted to possibly pursue working a museum or getting my PhD to teach at the college level, and this was my chance to see if those options were viable for me. But I was still nervous- what if I started this internship, and realized I didn’t want anything to do with museums, education, or history ever again? Going back to the drawing board as a senior in college seemed scarier to me than any Stephen King book I had ever read. Or, what if I discovered that I wasn’t good at it, and my confidence as a young historian was unfounded? These thoughts were invasive in the weeks that led up to starting my internship, but were gone in a matter of days as I started the various projects I was tasked with. I couldn’t have asked for a better introduction to the museum world as Laura, Annie, Stacen, Katie, Jennifer, and all the volunteers at the FHC provided me with a wealth of knowledge and assurance that allowed me to be successful these past 10 weeks. I had no idea that Framingham had such an extensive, unique, and downright important history. Getting to know this town (soon to be city)  was not only enlightening but I also got to think about what I am capable of doing and learning. I can honestly say that I learned so much valuable information this summer – both historical content and about my future aspirations.

I feel incredibly lucky to have been able to experience many facets of working in a museum, from administrative tasks, to setting up exhibits, to costume collections and research. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the FHC and the Desilets family who sponsor this internship, because even though I still don’t know what’s in store for me after I get my diploma, the FHC has shown me that I love researching and learning, and helped me to think about my career goals.

In conclusion, I would like to thank the Desilets family and everyone at the Framingham History Center for providing me the opportunity to truly have an amazing summer. Without this experience, I would not have known how much I enjoy working in a museum setting and doing research to put together stories of the past. Moving forward, I am excited for what post-graduation brings and cannot wait to visit the FHC in the future to see the great things I know they will continue to do!